A curse shared
by Ni-chan2
Summary: A dark figure from Cologne's past shows up in Nerima seeking revenge, Ranma and the crew inevitably get caught up in the scheme. Rated for violence and the occasional mild curse. Please R&R!


Disclaimer: Y'all know who owns Ranma, I make no claim over the original cast of this excellent series. This is my homage to one of best stories ever created, so please don't su e me ;_;.  
  
My first fanfic, constructive criticism is always welcomed, but if you feel like flaming me then my email address is in my profile. I hope you enjoy my work!  
  
  
  
The girl landed with perfect grace. Despite there being only enough room on the bamboo cane to place the tip of one foot, her balance was as sure as it would have been on the ground. She tensed, preparing to leap away if her opponent attacked again. Abruptly, a shadow fell over her. Looking upwards, her view of the sun was blocked as a large boulder hurtled towards her. She didn't flinch as it drew closer.  
  
Focusing her concentration, her view of the world changed for just a fraction of a second, but it was enough for her to see what she needed to. "Bakkusai Ten-Ketsu!", her hand darted out, an almost imperceptible movement. The boulder exploded, the force causing her long purple hair to stream out behind her as though she was standing head on in a strong wind. Her face was stung by small shards of rock, although none were sharp enough to damage her beautiful features.  
  
The young fighter frowned in annoyance as she realised her vision was blocked by the cloud of dust released from her use of the breaking point attack, but an Amazon was not so weak that she was helpless without her eyes. The girl felt his attack before she saw him. With reflexes born of 16 years of training, she leapt backwards just as the blade of her opponent's katana emerged from the cloud of dust. She heard rather than saw the blade slice through the bamboo pole she had been standing on. A smile surfaced on her lips; with the bamboo gone, there was nothing between her opponent and the pool of water below.  
  
Dropping to the ground lightly, she was not surprised to see her opponent dry and safe. He hung suspended over the spring, his hand wrapped around the hilt of his katana. The blade had slid almost half way down the bamboo, slicing the pole in two as it went before coming to a halt. The girl silently cursed the woods toughness. Her opponent was looking directly at her, and she forced down the impulse to shudder at the sight of his eyes. His irises were a crimson red, and they burned with hate and insanity. He grinned at her, revealing teeth that had been filed down to points.  
  
The Amazon dropped into a defensive stance as he jumped nimbly from the remains of the bamboo to the edge of the spring. This was it, the end of the battle was soon to be decided. She backed away slightly as he took a step towards her. Despite her training, despite being an Amazon, she was afraid.  
  
The man stopped his slow advance, his grin faltering, and, taking on an almost sad expression, he lowered his head, hiding the eyes that caused her so much discomfort. The girl couldn't help but be surprised as she saw what seemed to be tears drop to the floor. He looked up. Tears were indeed rolling down his cheek, the moisture making his eyes shine in the midday sun, but his eyes, they were no longer the same burning red. They had become the same soft shade of lavender as her own.  
  
She backed away, eyes widening "What...?", and then he spoke. Not the deep rich voice she knew so well, but one just as familiar. One she had never expected to hear again.  
  
"Cologne", the voice was that of her sister, light, melodious. Cologne took another step backwards, even though her opponent was making no effort to move closer. How could this be? Her sister was dead, killed by the very man who stood before her. What did he hope to achieve? Was this just some kind of mockery? "Cologne", the voice came again, filled with sorrow.  
  
Cologne felt tears begin to well in her own eyes, "You bastard, how dare you mock me this way?" She lowered her head and blinked away the tears, anger beginning to replace the deep feeling of loss that had been reawakened by the voice of her sister. When she looked up, her opponent was seemingly gone. In his place stood her sister.  
  
Cologne's anger evaporated as the shock took over, "This.this can't be." But it was. Her sister was just as she remembered her. Long purple hair that rivalled her own, dressed in her favourite green shirt, the shirt she had been wearing the day she.Cologne choked back a sob, "You are not my sister, Demon."  
  
"Cologne.why did you let him kill me?" The shade of her sister spoke in their native mandarin, a language Cologne had always thought beautiful, even though it was the one she had been raised with, and not any of the exotic sounding languages from other lands. Her dead sister's words caused multiple feeling to spring to life, anger, sorrow, but most of all, guilt.  
  
"I.I couldn't have done anything.I wasn't even in the village.it wasn't my fault!" The stammered response came unbidden to Cologne's lips, but it sounded weak even to herself. She knew it was her fault. She should have been there, she should have.She was lifted off of her feet by the force of the punch, falling to the floor with none of the grace and agility she usually possessed. A thought managed to work its way up from her now dulled senses "sister was never THAT fast".  
  
Cologne struggled to clear her head. The blow had been a solid one, but she had taken worse. A warning went off somewhere in the back of her mind, for instead of clearing, the fog that filled her head seemed to be getting thicker. Something was wrong. She had been knocked unconscious several times, and knew what it felt like. But this.Cologne had a suspicion she was dying. Looking up she saw her sister standing over her, a wide smile on her lips that lit up her face in a way Cologne would always remember, but this time there were differences. Her sister's teeth had been filed down to points, and her eyes were a crimson red. Before Colognes eyes, her sister's shaped blurred out of focus, to be replaced with that of her opponent.  
  
Cologne struggled feebly to get to her feet, but she knew it was too late. She had let herself be distracted. She had lost to the Demon, and her soul would be the price. Then she heard a voice, from out of her field of vision, speaking in broken Japanese.  
  
"Sir! Madam! You no should fight here! Many cursed springs, is very tragic..." The newcomer stopped in his tracks as he saw himself being regarded by eyes filled with hate, "story.um." Cologne felt the fog lift as the Demon looked away. Whatever he had been doing to her, it seemed it had needed all of his concentration, concentration that was now elsewhere.  
  
Flipping to her feet, her opponent turned towards her just in time to see her kick connect with his face. His head whipped backwards, blood erupting from his nose. Stumbling backwards, he tried to regain his balance and clear his vision. Cologne kept up her attack with a series of swift punches to his head to keep him disorientated, all the while backing him towards the pool of water behind him. He switched to the offensive suddenly, aiming a vicious punch at her neck, but the blow met nothing but air. Cologne ducked below the punch by dropping to her knees.  
  
"Tenshin Amagakuren!" Cologne's fist was a blur as she unleashed the full force of the "Chestnuts roasting over an open fire" attack on her opponents right leg. There was an audible snapping noise as his kneecap shattered, and he fell to the floor with a curse. Cologne stood over him breathing hard.  
  
"You bastard, you've killed my sister, and you've tried to kill me. You were one of our oldest friends and we trusted you. Do you have anything to say before I send you to your judgement?" He grinned and shrugged. Cologne was overcome with rage, for him to just shrug as if none of the suffering he had caused was even important to him. He had practised arts forbidden under Amazon law. Her sister had been the first to fall to his dark plans, and she would have been next if it weren't for the unwitting intervention of the current Junsenkyo Guide.  
  
With a scream of rage she spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to his head. He slid along the ground and disappeared into the pool of water with a large splash. Cologne moved to the edge of the spring, her rage still near uncontrollable.  
  
"Come on out you bastard! I don't care what you've changed into. I will kill you for what you've done!" Her opponent floated to the top of the spring, looked at her, and grinned. He was unchanged.  
  
"What will you do now Cologne?" Not her sister's voice this time, but his own, soft and rich. It gave no evidence of the evil mind behind it. "As you can see, I am unchanged. Whether the spring is defective or my 'gift' makes me immune, I don't know. Are you willing to come in here after me to find out?"  
  
Cologne clenched her fists in impotent anger. He was right; the spring might be completely safe. But if she jumped in there after him and she changed.she would be as good as dead. A glint of metal caught her eye. Her opponent's kitana glittered in the sunlight, still embedded within the bamboo. He followed her gaze and laughed softly.  
  
"You cant hurt me much with that, Cologne. Already the injury to my knee is starting to heal. If only I had fed some more before you caught up with me, you would not have been able to hurt me in that way." His laugh hardened, "You should just lie down, close your eyes, and wait for your inevitable end. You caught me by surprise before, but you won't again. The only way you could kill me is by hacking me to pieces with my own sword, and I don't think you're fast enough to do that.not to me."  
  
Cologne looked down at the floor, shaking with anger, "You bastard, you may heal faster than most. You may be quicker than me. I may not be able to beat you unless I use the element of surprise..." Cologne raised her head, and looked directly into his eyes, ".but for now you're still human. And you still need to breathe!" Leaping into the air, Cologne snatched the kitana from the bamboo and twisted it in her grip. Her battle aura flared around her, a bright green. She hadn't the experience or the power to produce ki attacks like the elders of the tribe, but she knew enough to use it to implement her power. Below, she saw her opponent's eyes widen as he realized what she meant to do. Putting all her strength behind her throw, she hurled the blade at the man below. It struck him in the middle of his chest, and the force of the throw forced him underwater.  
  
He felt the blade push through his body and out his back. His immediate reaction was to try and scream, but only bubbles rose from his lips. The water disguised all traces of his agony, except for the cloud of red blossoming from his wound. His attempts at screaming were abruptly cut short as he slammed against the spring floor, the blade digging into the earth. He thrashed around wildly, panic and fear overriding all of his other thoughts and emotions, but with his injured leg he couldn't even hope to pull free of the earth. As the blackness began to claim him, his senses and body growing numb, one thought stood out crystal clear. No matter how, no matter what the cost, he would kill Cologne.  
  
Cologne landed lightly on the other side of the spring. Turning, she was satisfied to see the only thing rising to the surface this time were bubbles and blood. It was over. Looking around, she saw the Jusenkyo Guide looking at her impassively, as if this was the kind of thing he saw everyday. She had something she needed to know.  
  
"Excuse me, but which spring is this?"  
  
The Jusenkyo Guide bowed and pulled out a sign, it looked freshly painted. "This Spring of Drowned Demon Man! Very tragic story of Demon Man who drown here, 1 minute, 30 second ago, is very cursed spring!" Cologne stared at him, open-mouthed in shock. What had she done? How could she have been so stupid? All it would take was for some foolish outsider to fall into that spring.but then, it would be foolish to fall into any of these springs, only a complete idiot would disregard the words of the Jusenkyo Guide. Feeling slightly better, Cologne thought it over, yes, even if someone was stupid enough to ignore the Guide, the chances of them falling into that actual spring were slim. Bowing once to the Jusenkyo Guide Cologne set off for home.  
  
NEXT TIME: Someone falls in to the spring (boy, didn't see THAT coming -_- ;;) and we zoom forward to the present Ranma universe. 


End file.
